IT'S EASY TO EMPATHIZE with
In this case, the "fixing" includes surgical spaying and neutering. One organization--the Rappahannock Humane Society--would like at least Spotsylvania County to make that procedure mandatory for all cats over the age of 5 months.
Understanding the push behind mandatory spay/neuter laws is easy: We the people can be irresponsible. We allow cats to breed, dump the kittens, move and abandon our pets; soon colonies of feral cats are lurking under buildings and in sewers. Trap-neuter-return programs can be effective, yet each year, about 15 million dogs and cats nationwide are sent into the hereafter by shelters.
Even so, mandatory spay/neuter laws are not the answer. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, between 77 percent and 87 percent of the 82 million household cats in this country are already fixed. The vast majority of copulating critters are strays. Who are you going to fine when those cats get caught? Second, these laws shift funds toward enforcement, rather than toward lowering the cost of spaying and neutering--and effective enforcement is difficult, as few feral cats are collared or microchipped.
Consider, too, the experience of municipalities that have tried mandatory spay/neuter. In Los Angeles, the rate of euthanasia for cats actually has gone up 28 percent since its law went into effect, and the number of cats turned in to shelters has increased 21 percent.
Mandatory spay/neuter laws are a "one size fits all" solution to what can be a complex question. That's why the American College of Theriogenologists (veterinary reproduction specialists) does not support them. These professionals know that spaying/neutering affects other aspects of animal health. For example, "There is a decreased incidence of diabetes mellitus in intact female [unspayed] cats." Neither is mandating a particular age for the procedure a good idea--in dogs, at least. Some studies indicate spaying/neutering prior to 1 year of age may increase the risk of bone cancer in some large dog breeds. So, while fixing pets is the right course most of the time, a vet, not a bureaucrat, should make that call.
Finally, mandatory spaying/neutering laws are an unwarranted government intrusion into private lives--of humans, we mean. That principle alone should put the quietus to the idea.
On the other hand, the cat overpopulation program is real. Increasing trap-neuter-return programs, practicing (and teaching) responsible pet ownership, and funding spaying and neutering more generously are better options than siccing the big dogs of government on a cat problem.